Author Archives: Kartik Krishnaiyer
Where is the Democrats statewide bench in Florida?
Having lost 17 of the last 18 races for Governor or Cabinet, Florida’s Democrats have a record of futility at this level unmatched by any other political party east of the Mississippi River. For all the whining about “gerrymandering” and institutional disadvantages that many Democrats and activists have become known for across Florida, losing close […]
Flashback Friday: An interview with Robert Buccellato
On Thursday we reviewed the soon to be released book Florida Governors Lasting Legacies (Images of America). Recently, I sat down with author Robert Buccellato for a candid chat about the legacy of Florida’s Governors and the challenges of leadership today in the Sunshine State. The lessons of Reubin Askew, perhaps Florida’s greatest governor were foremost […]
Sleepwalking through winter: Inside the Fort Lauderdale Strikers offseason of discontent (Part III)
Part I Part II The reaction to the first two parts of this series has been varied and demonstrates the massive rift between contingents of Fort Lauderdale Strikers fans. On one side you have die-in-the-wool club supporters who have given the benefit of the doubt to the new ownership and who believe other fans are […]
Thursday Bookshelf – Florida Governors: Lasting Legacies
Unlike other southern states, no definitive chronicle exists about Florida’s governors. That inspired Robert Buccellato to put together a first of its kind book about the governors – Florida Governors Lasting Legacies (Images of America) which will be released next week. In this day and age where institutional knowledge of Florida’s history and political culture has […]
Florida Democrats at a Crossroads – The need for rules reform
Florida Democratic Party leaders as well as those from county parties have to navigate through an arcane set of rules that do little but impede the processes necessary to reform the party and elect Democrats. The reality is while critics of the party are frequent, many don’t realize the impediments placed by the FDP’s own […]
Florida without Oranges?
Florida’s citrus industry has been through lots of adversity in recent years. Cold spells, citrus canker, other diseases, fruit flies, invasive species and other factors have begun to marginalize the industry. But Asian citrus psyllid which by spreading Citrus Greening has slowly eaten away at Orange groves over the past ten years might be the biggest challenge the industry has […]
Sleepwalking through winter: Inside the Fort Lauderdale Strikers offseason of discontent (Part II)
Read Part 1 here Transitions and change are never easy. Each NASL club in recent years that has changed ownership or management has gone through a difficult transition. I was part of a transition at the league level that saw several senior staff, myself included out of work. But Commissioner Bill Peterson had a plan […]
Sleepwalking through winter: Inside the Fort Lauderdale Strikers offseason of discontent (Part I)
The Fort Lauderdale Strikers were purchased from Traffic Sports by a group of Brazilian investors in September. The new ownership group assumed control of the club mid-November following the Strikers 2-1 defeat in the NASL title game. The ownership group which promised big things has gotten off to what can only be termed diplomatically as […]
Gwen Graham’s third way – Independent and astute
Last week we took a critical look at Congresswoman Gwen Graham’s first week in office. The newly-elected member of Congress from Florida’s second district had carved out a record initially that would put her to the right of Democrats like Pete Peterson, Bill Grant (before his bizarre party switch) and Don Fuqua on economic issues. […]
Flashback Friday: Expressway revolts in Dade, Broward, Pinellas and Hillsborough
In the 1960’s urban planners were preparing for explosive growth in the Tampa Bay area and southeast Florida. Population was exploding in both areas and various proposals for expressways were floated and eventually adopted by regional planning councils.The network of expressways proposed would have displaced existing neighborhoods and would have cost millions in local tax […]
The Florida Squeeze 